Transformers Prime: Deceptive Elements
by AlphaManticore
Summary: Maria Osborn, unknowingly leaves back Los Angeles only to become the newest exhibit of the decepticons. Serving the faction makes the woman change and support Megatrons cause. Will meeting the autobots make her see that there is more than meets the eye to her own planet than the poor street life? Or aid the warlord to enslave her kind?
1. Prologue

**Hello there ! This will be my first fan-fiction I ever wrote. I am not sure the time intervals in which I will upload more content, so please be patient ^w^ Also, my first language isn't English, so I excuse myself from the beginning for any misunderstandings.**

 **About the content:**

 **⊠ The story might include characters from other Transformers series**

 **⊠ Disclaimer: All the original characters belong to Hasbro except my OC**

 **⊠ Any design change or reference to other Transformers series will be mentioned.**

 **⊠ The story starts from the 4th episode of TFP**

 **Warning!** **It contains graphic content, violence,swearing, alcohol and smoking in a moderate amount.**

* * *

"Please, Lord Megatron, I meant no-ARHG!"

The warlord crashed the seekers frame on the Nemesis's floor. The dim deck had a few vehicons which worked to their stations, now looking to Starscream getting punished by their leader, and, as usual, the TIC, that watched silently and awaited the usual outcome, in which Starscream is somehow forgiven or left alive despite his failures.

"I ordered you to await my command! And instead, your mindless agenda resulted in the disassembling of my ship! And the delay of my plans!"

Stepping towards the mech, the titan kept yelling to his second in command, gradually increasing in volume with each word he barked out after each cowardly begging he listened to .

"My intentions were pure, Master. I only wanted you to be rid of Optimus."

His pede forcefully stepped on the upper frame of the mech, stomping and keeping him glued to the deck's floor.

"No one rids me of Optimus Prime but me! Do you understand?! Do you?!"

" Lord Megatron, I will make things right, I swear! I know how to set your plans back on course!"

 **[Later, on Nemesis' deck]**

The nemesis now kept lazily hovering over Earth's atmosphere, and the silver former gladiator finally could contemplate in silence after Starscream left the deck. His crimson optics analyzed the planet, already imagining how his empire would expand all over it's surface.

The opening door caught his attention, turning his head only to catch a glimpse of his communication chief approaching.

"Ah, Soundwave. At last, somebot I can discuss with"

His voice finally seemed calm enough, which pleased Soundwave.

Despite his incapability of discussing directly with him, he still considered it an unspeakable honor, Megatron always seeming keen speaking of his ideals, concerns and plans to him .

"I am certain that you can recollect the fact that once my army arrives, and the autobots exterminated, Earth remains at my very servos..."

A proud statement brought a smirk on the warlord's faceplates, bringing his servos at his back and now his gaze laying on the purple painted mech

"Which brings the question...what will I do with it?" He answered himself "Of course, it will be under my direct command, and harvesting its resources seems like an eligible idea. Those resources will aid in the restoration of our home, and the indigenous species inhabiting it, shall perish."

A grave tone embraced his words, Soundwaves head turned to take a better look at his leader, silently listening, an image popping on his visor, then another, a whole series of images collected from the human network resembling their race enslaved and enslaving each other in their past. Megatron thoughtfully hummed at the obvious idea.

"Ingenious, Soundwave! Not only that I will have an entire army and 2 planets at my pedes, but also an entire colony of slaves."

A pause followed as more ideas seemed to cross his processor

"They will hand over all their resources. Once it's done, we can eradicate all the organic life in order to dig into Earth's core, finshing all that is left of it."

Megatron cunningly chuckled, his optics watching the Earth. Soundwave simply nodded, his visor reflecting the planet's surface .

"But to sustain a colony and establish order among them, we have to look thoroughly into their specie in order to be fully prepared when we will start the operations. Soundwave..."

The warlord looked at his most trusted soldier, leaning over a bit and looking right into his visor, seeing himself reflecting into it. His war scars crossing his faceplates left a bitter taste on his glossa, however, he considered them a privilege, a privilege of showing power and resilience.

"I leave this task in your servos. I fully trust that in any possible way, you will acquire all the necessary data we need about this specie."

Los Angeles has been embraced by winters air. The wind howled and crawled between the buildings, throwing the dust and light junk in the air, across the roads and making people slip swears and disgusted faces as they glued themselves on their clothes.

The mech never understood humankind. Wherever they went, they left junk they ate from, polymeric materials they liked to dye and paint shapes and symbols on, to make them attractive enough to pay for, only to throw them afterwards on the streets and dumpers, ending in different sites to decompose and rot, polluting their air and waters. This organic specie lacked the means of conservation, or so he assumed.

A tall male organic figure stood in front of a glass building. It was high and probably intimidating for any low class inhabitant of this city. He arranged his dark purple tie, as his eyes, that hide behind his black shaded glasses, analyzed the building, then his hands trailed to the sides of his striped black tuxedo , arranging the folded clothing piece rested on a grey shirt, matching his polished shoes while the trousers seemed to share the same striped model.

 _Such enormous structure for such tiny creatures._

He thought it was ironic, considering the cybertronian architecture.

The street shared men and women sharing his formality, rapidly roaming in and out of the said buildings. He made sure that when he would reach the city, he would search the high standardized areas, of which he presumed it was inhabited only by high educated humans, which could respond to his questions.

"Excuse me, may I ask you a few questions in the purpose of filling a public study regarding the final evolution stage of humanity?"

A man's voice in his 40s left his throat, stern and clear, joining his emotionless face. The questioned woman gave him a frown, not even stopping from walking

"Busy."

Not affected by the woman's tone, he did repeat the same question to another person, a man that was drinking his coffee by a fashion shop.

"I have no time man, my wife is going to come any minute"

Another useless reply.

"Excuse me, may I ask-"

"Are you from the design department on the 3rd floor?"

"No. May I ask you a few-"

"Sorry, you looked familiar. And my break is done"

With that being said, the man turned around and reentered the building.

Several hours went the same, and the ones he could interrogate, after two or more questions they looked freaked out enough to find an excuse to leave. He considered himself lucky the holoform couldn't acquire what humans called a dry mouth from the excessive talking, although his patience was slowly draining. Later, no humans seemed to come out of the buildings anymore, so he switched to the other side of the road, with shorter buildings, made of bricks. The people crossing at that time of the day were casually clothed, wandering in groups, talking all sort of nonsense. The space between the buildings was littered with junk and diverse papers, even homeless people.

Despite not being able to question the high educated ones, he did continue to ask even the casually clothed people, avoiding the few people that sat on the concrete with a can and diverse card boards in front of them, switching between each other every few hours, somehow convincing the people to throw their change in the greasy cans.

They were the same difficult as the previous ones, and from insisting so much, the groups and people ahead that spotted the man, avoided him and visual contact.

 _Fleshlings._

He thought, already losing hope, and what slightly annoyed him was a laughter behind him. Turning around, and looking down, he noticed the one laughing was a woman. Her long ginger hair was a total mess, covering a part of her face as she held her stomach. The mans eyes narrowed. A low class, homeless indigenous specimen was laughing. At him. The third in command to Lord Megatron himself, ex-member of the ruling council of Cybertron! He wasn't the one to act out alike to Starscream, yet this planet has already started to infuriate him.

 _Soundwave superior...Humans inferior_

Keeping a straight face, the holoform cocked an eyebrow to her. Finally, she decided to stop and look up at him.

"You know, they might think you are trying to sell drugs" She spoke through her laughter, straightening her back.

"I am not. I am doing a public study regarding the final evolution stage of humanity" The answer took him a little, uploading voice recordings from the human network and adjusting them to the chosen voice of the holoform.

"Oh, really?"Her daring tone reached his audio sensors. A grin stretched on her freckled face in the meantime "And what is your opinion about it?"

* * *

 **That's it for the beginning.**

 **As a side note, Soundwave uses other voice fragments collected from the internet to make his holoform speak.**


	2. Ch1: The provider the world doesn't need

***UPDATE* When I posted this I forgot to delete a commentary I put for myself. And bolding the memory, Italic the thoughts. My bad. Not it should be fixed :)**

* * *

Her attitude made Soundwave rethink his choices of collecting data in person. Although their network provided all the necessary data, there were too many sources and useless details, in which he got lost too many times. The mech started looking for their diet, which led to a thousand of pages regarding health diseases caused by almost every existent food source of the planet. He couldn't help but think of the fragility of the organics. How could they survive until now? How were they supposed to work under Megatron's commands, when even the fuel they consume sickens them? A high probability was that this network provided incorrect data, which he didn't have time to filter. A direct query seemed a more practical idea, until now.

She could see that her question caught him off guard, and probably started to think of how to get rid of her as fast as possible.

"What knowledge can a low educated female provide?" The monotony in his voice weighted tons in the girls head. Her grin dimmed, crossing her arms, not fully expecting a question wrapped around that insult.

"I don't know, you high educated male. Maybe more than the all so smart people that avoid you right now." Irony has been served, however, Soundwave didn't have a choice at the moment but try. An unsatisfactory answer will just buy his ticket out of his holoform.

The man stepped closer to the sitting woman, placing his hands joining behind him, lowering his head only a little, so he could properly watch her.

Her gaze followed his movements, and even behind those glasses, the long awkward silence made her ask herself if he was looking at her and her stuff or if he analyzed her surroundings. She was sitting on a dusty blue carpet, by her side laying a carton box, in which she collected a small amount of green papers and several coins, a book without cover. She didn't have any cardboard presenting her current issues regarding health or siblings. The green eyes tried to pierce through his glasses, now, the man finally asking her the first question.

"What does the minimum human diet requirements consist of?"

She stood a while, thinking of a good answer. Her first instinct was to throw a sarcastic 'McDonalds fries', but now, if she started with the smart step, she would try to keep the act and prove that only because she was living on the street, she wasn't that dumb.

"Well, it is usually based on the calories and proteins intake. Water is the most basic and essential. As for food, vegetables are a good way to go."

"Elaborate."

"Most of them have proteins and all the vitamins your body needs. For a resistant and healthy body, meat is making things easier. Some meat and some vegetables, and maybe some sort of cereals should sustain anyone. But if you ask me, a can of meat salad from Superior Grocers supermarket is enough to not starve." Her hands trailed her messy hair, throwing it all behind, uncovering her whole face now. She showed a small, proud smile on her face, while the man analyzed her answer, in silence. He looked like he was checking on it in his own head, trying to find any sort of flaw.

"Satisfactory enough."

The plain reply came, yet before she could open her mouth to comment, the chief asked further

"Are any polymeric components a relevant alternative to the organic diet?"

Her narrowing eyes looked familiar to Soundwave. It was the same face everyone was making after he put that question, and anytime time, due to her lack of knowledge, she expected him to throw another smart comment and leave. Instead of letting him concluding that he was right, she didn't give up. The girl gently frowned in confusion and slight shame.

"Look man. I don't know fancy scientific terms, I am sorry for that. If you have simpler terms, it would help."

That's it. She recognized that she didn't have enough knowledge to comprehend his questions, although she did consider it a brave move. It was useless for him and for her to keep the 'smart ass' act if in fact she didn't know all the technical terms.

Compared to the other humans that preferred to avoid his questions, at least this specimen tried to find an alternative, he thought, assuming he was making progress.

His processor searched for more common terms, rephrasing.

Truly, she expected another insult, shaming her. To her surprise, the wealthy looking figure asked again.

"Are any plastic materials a possible replacement to the diet you mentioned before?"

"Clearly not. People still wonder why they get diseases while they eat fast food. Most of it is plastic... I also eat it sometimes but not because I have a choice."

The options seemed clear from the beginning, although, she was embarrassed from recognizing her state, also realizing her lack of fancy words after she decided to engage in this conversation. Her crossed arms tightened more in front of her torso. Her embarrassment however wasn't exposed to him that much, a convinced look sculpted on her face.

"Uh, don't you write this down or something? Or you have that kind of super computer memory everyone is freaking out about?" Rolling her eyes at her last question, although she found it odd that he was keeping the same position, almost like a statue, not bothering to write it in some sort of form like all people do when they come by with marketing questionnaires.

"Everything is recorded."

"Oh. Okay."

The recording device had to be under his suit then, she assumed, not noticing it anywhere in sight. It had to be put there in order to prevent it from being stolen.

The questions kept coming on for another hour, little by little collecting information, taking that long mostly because of her trying to phrase her answer as good as she could.

Why would anyone ask those things?

Finally, the next question dumbfounded her.

"Designation?"

"Design what?" a blind guess came in an exasperated tone this time. She already could feel an incoming headache from so many new words.

"Name." A quick internet search provided him a synonym.

"Maria... Osborn."

Due to the fact she was homeless, Maria found the data redundant. She was aware that for common forms, people could fill in their names, sometimes being optional.

 _I should've asked if it was really necessary..._

"Your answers have been valid and of use to me." With that being said, the holoform turned around, taking his leave already. No goodbyes, no nothing. Maria rose an eyebrow in confusion, slightly insulted as she watched the man leaving in such a haste.

"You're...welcome?" She mumbled with a scowl, not bothering to yell it to him, seeing that he already went far enough to get lost in the streets crowd.

"A buck would have been nice though"

* * *

Maria didn't have much of a choice. Her days usually consisted of her waking up in her tent, finding new faults which she had to patch up. She considered herself lucky she didn't have to live in a carton box, like others did. With patience and the use of the won money, she could afford to buy a second hand tent. Straight from the beginning, it wasn't in good shape. She had to find old clothing to patch it up and with time she covered it with layers of plastics, so the rain couldn't destroy her 'home'. The only place she was left alone and in peace was the back of a paint shop. It was a narrow alley, meant to be space for the dumpsters of the two brick buildings glued to it. The trash smell could be born with, although, the old paint always itched her skin and eyes to the extent she couldn't sleep. Neither of those inconveniences could convince her to move her tent. The shopkeeper agreed that she could stay there as long as she kept an eye on the supplies he was bringing from time to time in the back, not letting it get stolen. The other alternative was to live in the homeless people camps, which she hated from all her heart. Staying away from people was a privilege, she thought.

Every day was quite a walk till she was reaching the tall glass buildings, arranging her tiny carpet, opening the book she read 6 times already, waiting for people to throw their change in her carton box.

"Is this the best place you found in all Los Angeles to get money?"

The emotionless voice sounded familiar, raising her gaze from the book only to see the shady short haired man. Indeed, it has been a while since he didn't show himself. Before, he returned every day for at least half an hour to ask more of his questions.

"You know, the sun isn't that strong today for you to wear sunglasses…" A dry reply came instead, throwing him a questioning look. She sighed, seeing him not responding to that comment.

"There are better places to do this, but I like sitting here."

"Reason?"

"Because I want them to feel guilty. Sitting in their offices, driving their shiny slim cars back to their luxurious homes, turning on the TV and melting in their soft king-sized beds while they eat their 5 star meals." Disgust touched her tongue, pointing to herself as she spoke, showing the difference between those people and herself.

The holoform didn't say anything for a while, blankly looking at her. Her argument was good enough to make him turn around and watch the mass of suited humans, then turn back to her. The most shocking thing she wouldn't expect was him, slowly pacing towards her. Her eyes warily followed his movements.

 _What is he doing?_

Then, unexpectedly, the man sat on the dusty concrete, shocking even the people passing them, throwing him confused looks. Her eyes widened, keeping her arms as close as she could to her body, in a defensive manner.

Maria couldn't even imagine the words he would speak afterwards

"They should feel guilty."

It was the first subjective comment he ever said since he started coming to her.

Soundwave found her attitude fitting, which fascinated him somehow. The woman talking to him seemed to resemble a victim of the caste system back on Cybertron. He didn't even have to say anything. Maria kept muttering further by herself. Wrong move, a fuse has been blown.

"Excuse me, says you? You are one of them, aren't you? All fancy suited, thinking you are above everyone in society because mommy and daddy had the money to keep you in school." She raised her hand, pointing to the giant building and the men roaming around. "They are disgusting. And you look just like them! What do you think you are, a special snowflake?"

For a second she thought it would be wise to stop talking, but the topic triggered something in her, not allowing herself to stop just there

"This city is corrupted. This world is corrupted… Everyone is...ugly. Everything is unfair!" Her tone raised, anger showing and exhaling from every pore of her being while hissing and spitting out her words.

A sudden movement of her head towards him brought her hair in her face, adding to her anger. Maria collected a hair elastic from the pocket of her baggy wool cardigan she had on, bringing her hair together in a messy ponytail. Soundwave slowly glanced to her, unfazed, allowing her to vent off, and yet, he was intrigued by her sudden burst against her own kind.

"Aren't you going to say anything!? I am talking about you! You think that sitting here with me will make me think 'oh, there are also good people in this world, I am wrong, let's get in your helicopter and fly above Los Angeles. Ah, finally!'" She expressed her frustration through irony and a high-pitched voice, heavily exhaling due to anger, and the green eyes burning with dread.

She couldn't believe he was still sitting there, not even a muscle shifting on his face from all the show she has put on. No shame, no reply, nothing. Maria stared at him with the same angered expression for what seemed like an entire day. Suddenly, she got up and angrily shoved her stuff in the middle of her carpet, pulling it away from the man before she rolled it up. With a few long strings she had with her, the woman wrapped the carpet so nothing would fall out of it, ending with an extra cord she threw over her left shoulder, placing the carpet on her back and furiously walking away.

"You didn't answer my questions yet." It came calm as ever.

"Fuck your questions!"

A shout was the last thing he received from the human.

The mech couldn't care less about her primitive life, still, her words and anger intrigued even him. His entertainment however wasn't the purpose of his visits, and her impertinence was delaying his schedule.

For a while, his servos rested on the control panel of the deck.

Soundwave realized a primary mistake he did, by asking the wealthy community in the first place. In his previous research, he has stumbled upon dishes and habitation boxes that were considered luxurious, expensive. The wealthy part of the society was spoiled, and a part of it counting on the cheap alternatives as well as crumbles left from the rich men, then, there was the average blanket of society. The fact reminded him of the caste system back on Cybertron, before Megatron waged war against it. If humanity was to become enslaved, the decepticons had to assure the minimal requirements for the population to live and maintain a healthy frame in order to work.

It became a hard task lately, considering Starscream's sudden raise to power. He kept wondering if he still has to comply to it, given that Lord Megatron's signal disappeared once the space bridge exploded, and in his mind, the same revolting scene since that day replayed, again and again.

 ** _This shouldn't have happened_**

 **And yet it did. He had to return to the ship's main deck only to hear the vehicons cheer for the new lord.**

 **"Soundwave!" The seeker slyly addressed to him "I know we all grieve our masters demise...however, we must not fall back! I fully trust that your loyalty remains the same...to our cause, of course."**

 **An empty nod was given as reply, agreeing with the mech either way.**

Starscream, cunning as he was, lacking the necessary leadership skills, could either have the dumb luck to lead them to a blind victory or most likely destroy what their master has built. At least that was what the chief thought at the moment. Even so, he had to remain on course. Even in death, Lord Megatron's orders are to be followed, in any possible way, even if Starscream will like or not what he was preparing.

* * *

 **Phew...Okay :I... slowly cutting in the cake ;) And Soundwave has the honors.**

 **Reviews are welcome by the way, I would love to hear what you think about the story :D**


	3. Ch2: Of course I want to leave!

Her head was in a whirl, and the stomach aching, an urge to throw up built in her throat. A deep swallow allowed her to soften the feeling itching the back of her mouth.

 _God, I feel like I took a shower in a washing machine…_

Grabbing her head in both of her hands, Maria gently massaged her temples, her eyes forced shut, waiting for the static in her ears and forehead to dim. It took a while for her to muster the courage to slowly open her eyes, only to be blinded by the powerful sun. Powerful sun!? The realization hit her, in a sudden straightening her back from the ground and looking around in a haste. The canvas material of the tent was replaced with the landscape. Stony hills stretched over the horizon, trees littered all around them, slightly covered in snow. The fresh clean air gently howled, caressing her pale face. The green eyes were widened in confusion.

 _I couldn't get here. It would be impossible._

"It' a dream...a lucid one."

Maria muttered for herself in awe, a smile stretching on her face.

She was standing on a stone cliff, right at the edge of a dense forest, laying behind her. She kept looking at the scenery, it was amazing, clean, virgin from the human trash, brick buildings and their pollution.

"I should get money to move my tent here"

Being in her own dream allowed her to speak aloud, to let herself melt in the cold pine scented air. For a slight moment, she forgot she was bare-footed, sitting on the stony ground. Around herself laid the items from her tent. Despite being in a world where she was the god, she instinctively got her pair of dusty boots on, then overlaying her khaki top with the usual cardigan she was wearing to keep herself warm.

Getting up and turning around to admire the rest of the view, she almost fell back on the ground, gaining a defensive stance.

The man has returned even in her dreams, in the same suit. The same glasses and posture. He was standing there, with his hands behind his back and alike to a statue. She scowled over the sight.

"Really? Even in my dreams?"

"I don't have the necessary amount of time to waste blending in your city."

"God, even here you speak as annoying as ever…" Maria slowly muttered, although, she gained a confidence she didn't have before. Here, she didn't have to stand low, she could act however she pleased.

"You despise your own kind. Correct?" The man was still unfazed, questioning her with the same monotony as before.

"I simply dislike people in general. I am where I am because people can't accept that there are some that are better than they are at some things."

Normally, she wouldn't brag about it, but

 _It's not like it's real_

The thought relieved her each time she wanted to say something more.

"They destroy everything in their way. All you can do is...fight."

"You want to leave."

A chuckle came, slowly growing into a laugh. And the woman tried to stop, placing her arms on her hips and throwing a superior glace over him.

"You really talk like a business man. You would do great in marketing. What, are you going to take me away from all the people? You know..." She walked dangerously closer to him.

"Of course I want to leave! If you would be able to get me out of Los Angeles, that would be great. Honestly, I just want to get away from everything that city is." And her voice fired up with amusement. She was now standing at only a meter distance from him.

"But, I can't trust you, of course! You are just some shady guy in a suit. Probably you are some sort of mafia member that recruits homeless girls and sells them to drug lords or who knows, maybe I will end up a salami for who knows what important cannibalistic criminal"

Maria ranted uncontrollably ironic. It was her head, she could say anything.

Do anything.

Her hand rose, clenched in a fist, launching it towards his face. How much she hated his lack of reactions. If her words weren't going to make him flinch, her punch will.

The aggressive woman remained dumbfounded however, almost losing her balance from the attack. Right before she would make contact with his face, the figure disassembled in thin air. The disappearance resembled a wired hologram, rapidly folding away at an incredible rate.

A blow of air hit her back, making her wrap her arms around herself. It felt incredibly real.

"Yeah, coward! And don't you dare get back, or you will feel my wrath! Hah!" Maria yelled, her victorious warrior voice tuning the valley. Her victory didn't last long though.

The sudden appearance of a force made the woman back off in shock. An oval large shape stood in front of her, a dense vertical whirlpool of green and blue, continuously spinning and mixing itself, producing a strange sound.

It all came back to her. She was in her tent, napping, and all of a sudden….opening her eyes, she was feeling her stomach like a void. She was falling, with her belongings, in a sea of the same colors that thing was standing in front of her! Then piece by piece, the image assembled itself. She hit her head on the landing and thought it was a dream. But it was impossible! It couldn't be, it had to be just her imagination. The man she hit...it disappeared...and that thing opened, like the thing she fell through.

 _A gate…?_

A quake from the ground spread in her limbs, her green eyes widening in fear.

His odd questions came to her mind in a blink. He wasn't a man...he was something. Something going through that gate. And she just tried to punch him.

The freezing stance was interrupted as her breath accelerated. A single glimpse of what was coming through that portal made the human break her feet away from the ground, running in the opposite direction.

 _This is NOT real! This is a damn nightmare! I will wake up. I will wake up!_

Her thoughts didn't help. Her eyes were locked on the dense forest she was running in parallel with. Looking to the valley, the woman thought she could make it. A jump has been made, slipping on the dry gravel and sliding down at a dangerous angle.

The mech walked out of the portal, followed by another. His visor analyzed the surroundings, noticing the cloud of dust left from the gravel. The last one exiting the now closing ground bridge exhaled a sigh.

"You could handle it yourself, you know... All this dust is going to ruin my perfect paint job".

His fluid tone joined his mimic of showing his shining cherry red paint covering his silver frame.

Silent as ever, Soundwave just had to glance at him and point his digit to the dust cloud.

"Ookay, you're the boss. You really want to give the human a hard time."

Indeed, the TIC could easily ground bridge her directly on the Nemesis, it was that easy. The fact was that he considered that the human can be more than a simple information provider. With some training, she could be a good tool. She could fit into spaces he couldn't reach, go undercover in populated places in which the mech couldn't, even be a perfect way to spy and collect required items, as the holoform he was using was a universal one, provided by the ship itself, not materialized and advanced enough to carry some items or go undercover without being detected.

Soundwave decided it was a good opportunity to test her resilience and survival skills straight from the beginning as much as her capability of facing shocking events.

Knockout didn't comment further and proceeded towards the dust cloud.

"Let's play catch."

* * *

 **The** **autobot** **base**

"Optimus…" Ratchet spoke while still keeping his optics on the screens "There are two decepticon signatures on the radar. They are in a place named Tahoe National Forest"

"I know that forest! I once went there with my family!" From the couch, Rafael joyfully spoke.

"It's a really nice place to go for camping" Then added.

Optimus slowly approached int he meantime, looking at the screen, narrowing his optics at the screen.

"It would seem that even in the absence of Megatron, the decepticons will continue their operations."

"This is odd…"

"What is it?" Arcee popped up from behind to catch up with the news. Bulkead was already listening to the developing event from behind the human's couch on which Miko and Jack were also sitting.

"Normally, I would expect Starscream to search energon mines, and acquire resources...but there is nothing. The computer doesn't show up any radiation either. What do you think they are doing there?"

"There is only one way to find out, old friend. Either way, their presence might uncover further plans we are to be aware of. Open the ground bridge."

"Yes! Let's go beat some decepticon tailpipes!"

"Not you Miko." Bulkhead had to cool down her excitement.

"Awwww…."

* * *

Maria reached a boulder at the bottom of her slide, not even properly collapsing on her knees and already sprinting off towards the trees.

 _I am not waking up! Wake up! Please, let me wake up!_

It already became clear that somehow, this was not in her head. It was real, and she was about to become some sort of alien experiment. If what they were planning to do to her was as bad as movies were depicting, she was done for good. Her instinct was to run, To run and not look back, no matter what. The only problem was, if they were intelligent, she had to do more than that. From the size of that thing, it would appear she had a chance of hiding in a narrow space, away from sight.

 _I have to survive._

Her raged breath was slowly reached a decent rhythm. The woman considered that she somehow had to control the sounds she was making, so she wouldn't be discovered. The trees were littered, the forest not dense enough to hide behind them, but they seemed a good cover for now.

It wasn't long before she heard the heavy steps crushing the ground underneath her in small quakes. It's getting closer!

Maria looked behind, but didn't see anything yet. Perfect! Now she had to spot some place to hide. The ground was spotted with dead branches, stones and boulders of different sizes.

The run continued. It seemed endless, and her legs were aching at a rate she had to somehow convince herself she couldn't stop to have a break, as much as they begged for one. She couldn't feel the steps yet, but she knew that thing was after her. Her eyes widen to the sudden change of view. The path suddenly stopped to an abrupt cliff, underneath lurking a pool. Maria stopped in her tracks, quickly analyzing. By the look of it, or probably because of her adrenaline, the jump was a short distance. If she were to jump, the soaking clothes would get too cold to survive the night there. That if she was going to escape.

She looked behind, then to her right and left. A buzzing pitched sound interrupted her thoughts, her widen eyes scanning the sky, trying to identify the source, and she did. It looked like a bird, something like an engine was making the noise. On a better look, it didn't resemble a bird that much at all, and it was approaching her.

"Hell no!" The woman shouted to Laserbeak as she grabbed a stone from the ground and threw it in the thing. It didn't hit the target, but that didn't stop her from gathering and throwing more towards it.

Laserbeak flew closer, making the woman realize it wasn't as small as she thought at first. Another thrown rock, this time it hit him, without much damage. Approaching even further, Laserbeak hovered in front of the edge, at only few meters distance from her. It didn't seem like it was going to do something to her, but that didn't mean it could change its mind.

 _It's a machine...maybe they are Japanese?_

From the look of things, it reminded her of the drones kids were playing with. Or at least it resembled something like that. The steps returned, this time approaching at a faster pace. Looking behind, the horror made the girl let out a scream. A large machine was heading her direction, making its way through the trees, bending some of them like they were made out of chewing gum, crushing the frail calcareous stones underneath his pedes

"There you are, fleshy!"

Knockout aimed a smirk to her, his crimson optics locking on the fragile human.

"No. No, no, no…."

The shock paralyzed her for a few seconds

 _Oh god, no! I didn't do anything to deserve this!_

Her eyes looked for a way out. There weren't any good options at hand. The drone was blocking her way, who knew what it would do if she turned around to jump in the water. And if she started to run in any direction, the robot would easily catch up with her. She wrapped her arms around herself, harshly pulling on the cardigan. Fear was taking over, until, an idea struck her. The fearful glance she had before slowly melted into a determined one.

Laserbeak approached more, live streaming to Soundwave the back of the woman that was getting her wool cardigan off. Until then, the mech took her for an anorexic case, clothed with many layers of fabric, due to the fact her diet was so poor. His theory proved wrong. Her back and arms were wrapped in a decent amount of muscles. If he correctly recalled it, her body should match the 'athletic' human term. Below her tank a thin line of her waist was bare, continued by long trousers, ending in high boots.

 _I can't believe I am doing this_

Maria took a deep breath, slowly leaning to the ground. Her cardigan was holding on one of her arms, wearing only the sleeve.

"You ain't gonna get me your freak"

The mutter came from between her clenched teeth. It was now or never. She took a strong grip on a larger stone that laid by her feet, slowly looking behind her. The drone approached, which made the moment even better!

A warrior cry burst from her lungs, turning around and launching the stone into the drone. Thinking it might back off, she didn't trust the length of her arms could reach it, so she threw it into it. Laserbeak rapidly tried to fly backwards after the sudden hit. It didn't affect him much as spin a few sensors, but what followed next left the symbiote agitate.

Maria didn't waste a second. She took a few steps and launched herself over the edge, throwing her cardigan over the flying machine's helm, unrolling the sleeve off her arm and gripping on it. Laserbeak attempted to throw what was covering his visual sensor off himself, without much luck. It flew right and left, forth and back, and that was the moment she started to swing her body, trying to guide the drone over the pool. Knockout was almost there, and finally the drone decided for itself to fly around more than just shaking a little.

 _Yes! Almost there!_ But Laserbeak didn't plan to land gently. Yes, he lowered himself, without acknowledging he was so close to the water surface, and proceeded to spin. Her cardigan, from the first was going to give in, after all it was an old piece of rag compared to the shiny machine. She swung one more time, releasing herself.

A scream echoed until she hit the water, a short one, nonetheless. The distance was perfect, and the water reached only a bit above her knees. Maria started to walk ahead, pulling with force through the water until she got out, continuing to run.

Knockout stopped on the edge she was earlier, looking behind, only to see Soundwave, not far from him.

"The difficult ones are the best catch...eh?"

The mech couldn't help himself but laugh to his own statement, but it has been shortly interrupted by the sound of a ground bridge. Soundwave glanced over it. The distance was decent enough for them to escape. One nod has been given to knockout before turning into his jet mode, bursting his engine and reaching the sky with ease. The other mech watched the autobots coming through the portal. Optimus and his team were in plain sight, only at sever trees distance. He looked over the pool only to watch the girl running. Now it was a speed matter.

Maria could feel the ground shake all of a sudden, and a thundering explosion cracked in the valley.

Soundwave launched a projectile to the welcoming committee already. The autobots defensively got out of the projectile's way, not being able to put out the fire that slowly started to embrace the dry vegetation.

"It's Soundwave!" Arcee cried out with her blasters aimed to the sky, aiming to the dark shaded jet that was speeding towards them.

"Autobots! We can't let them escape!" Optimus spoke while he already started to shoot towards the decepticon.

The fight was like a blind chase, which Bumblebee seemed to notice. Soundwave was engaging them from a safe distance. A distraction, he thought. Only if he could notice it earlier.

She had to cross a large clearing to enter the dense forest ahead of her. She had to make it, she was halfway there! If only she wouldn't of glanced back, to panic at the sight of a crimson vehicle speeding towards her, leaving a wall of dust behind it.

The woman felt her guts reaching her throat. The fear kicked her, pushing her to run faster and not look anymore.

"Leave me alone! I have nothing! NOTHING!"

She screamed on top of her lungs. Whoever was in that car, surely wasn't her friend, and the engine's roar approached at a worrying speed.

 _Run._

The engine fiercely revved, closing in.

 _RUN!_

Hearing the gravel snapping underneath the wheels so close to her feet, instinctively made her turn around, not believing her eyes could widen more, not believing what she was seeing. Her scream drowned somewhere in the back of her mind.

The car snapped in two. In three, it rearranged, the gears loudly shifted and took shape of the robot she saw before. It's optics were locked on her, and after the clinking of metal stopped, still in motion from the speed it had before, Knockout had his arm stretched, servo open and sharp talons stretched out.

"Need a ride?"

The woman couldn't even scream, she was easily snatched like a rodent from the field by an eagle. The metallic digits wrapped around her, keeping a tight grip. There was no way to escape. The grip wasn't tight enough to break her bones, but surely was slightly suffocating, and the uncontrolled breathing was slowly leaving her without oxygen.

Panic branched through all her body, green eyes locked on Knockout's face plates. She couldn't help it, tears streamed down her face.

"Please, I don't have anything! I don't know anything!"

Her voice was pathetically pitching between her rapid breaths, shaking her head, already starting to become light, not being able to focus her sight properly.

The mech hummed, amused by her pleading, his free servo reaching his audio sensor.

"Soundwave, I got the human. I need a ground bridge."

He spoke as his optics studied the woman, bringing her closer to his face. She was exhausted, and her head was slowly giving in. Without any sort of warning, Maria heaved whatever was left in her stomach on the mech's digits, immediately starting to shake, only her muscles to give in afterwards, all at once, losing consciousness.

"Ew...your pet threw out her fluids on my finish!"

He shouted, disgusted, glancing back as he heard the TIC's engine. On his tail were the autobots, and far behind, a blazing fire coming from the woods.

In the meantime, Laserbeak successfully removed the fabric off after few spinning maneuvers he performed, subsequently reaching Soundwave midair, attaching to the back of the jet.

A ground bridge opened by Knockout, allowing him to walk through with the human still in his grip.

Soundwave shortly after dived in the vortex, rapidly closing it behind.

The failure of stopping the decepticons get what they wanted left a bitter taste on the autobot's glosses.

Bulkhead was the first one to question their actions.

"Did anyone see what Knockout was holding?"

"No. Optimus, do you think it was another weapon?"

The Prime disapprovingly shook his head to the motorcycle, concerned.

"Ratchet didn't get any signal that would imply any known decepticon technology, nor autobot."

Bumblebee wheezed his gears with a disappointed tune, gesturing his servo towards where their ground bridge was moments ago.

"It might be, Bumblebee. But it is unlikely humankind would leave any powerful device in the middle of wilderness, without any security."

The large mech hummed with a scowl.

"Whatever they wanted, it's now in their servos."

* * *

 **Well, hello chapter 2!**

 **I had a hard time with Laserbeak, but I ended up deciding to keep his TFP design, but with a small change. The only difference is that to his TFP design you add the bird helm from Transformers G1. It's not much of a difference though, but details are details.**

 **I hope you liked this new chapter and I will come with an update, probably close to the middle of September, I have some exams until then.**

 **See ya!**


	4. Ch3: Cybertronians

**Hello readers! It took much more time than expected to upload this next chapter. Due to projects and work, my time is limited, but I promise I will upload more, although, I don't know when.**

 **Thanks for reading :) I really appreciate the reviews! And I hope you will like how the story will develop.**

 **I wrote down the measurement units I chose from the wiki pages.**

 **Time units:**

 **Nano-Klik - 1 second**

 **Cycle** **-** **1 minute**

 **Klik** **-** **1.2 minutes**

 **Breem** **-** **8.3 minutes**

 **Groon** **-** **1 hour**

 **Solar-Cycle** **-** **1 day**

 **Deca-Cycle** **-** **10 days**

 **Orn** **-** **13 days**

 **Stellar Cycle** **-** **1 years**

 **Meta-Cycle** **-** **1 month**

 **Vorn** **-** **83 years**

 **Length units:**

 **Mechanometer** **-** **1 meter**

* * *

 _Breathe...Let go of your body. Just do after me, Maria._

 _Breathe In._

 _And out._

 _And in…_

 _And out…_

There she was, with her eyes closed and focused on her task, a twitch of a smile blooming for a brief moment. A cinnamon scented air littered with the stingy aroma of whiskey danced in her head, with each breath, her mind felt lighter and lighter. A ringing noise cracked in the back of her head, pulling her back from her dream and uncovering new scents.

A siphoned cold blanket of air rested in her throat, bringing the woman to cough away the itchy sensation. Her hands cupped her head, wishing for the ring to come to an end. Maria screwed her eyes , trying to process the newfound space. She was sitting, the feet touching a hard surface while her back was leaned on another vertical one.

Her shaky hand instinctively reached out for the hard wall behind her, only to recognize the glassy texture, and her boots squeaking across the opposite surface. The green eyes opened in shock, her breath drastically accelerating, digesting the current situation she was in: a circular tall glass wall was surrounding her, confining her into some sort of tubular container with the top and bottom made out of a heavy metal. Then the sudden realization hit her: she has been abducted. She has been chased and grabbed like a hopeless mouse out of the field, and instead of a terrifying hawk it was a terrifying car transforming and grabbing her for who knows what reason.

The world residing on the other side of her cage, could be a perfect comparison to the famous "Jack and the beanstalk" story. Everything was so huge in size, compared to her, resembling metallic furniture, plucked out of a sci-fi world. By the looks of it, it would come to reason that she was in a container in a laboratory. Each object was embraced by the artificial light with purple tendencies of several ceiling lamps, and the walls were crossed by counters filled with diverse tools of unknown purpose to her. She could recognize only a few of them that resembled drills, a car buffer of large dimensions and what looked like complex shaped screwdrivers. The rest of them were of alien origin to her. The wall counters surrounded a large desk in a corner, also sprinkled with unknown devices and tubes. On the opposite side of the room stood a impressive sized oblique metal table, which most likely served the purpose allowing the large beings to be examined. She didn't see other purpose to it. An intake got stuck in the throat, what she didn't recognize as doors until they slid open came to her attention, and her heart was begging to rip out of her chest and run away as far as possible.

Maria leaned on the glass, only to try and look what was lying beneath the container, which proved to be against her plans. The trip to the floor would leave her with something broken, for sure. If the container would break, the image wouldn't be pretty at all.

 _Death or dissection…_

The terror consumed her. Her consciousness recalled the feeling.. That was for the fight or flight moment. The woman froze at the sight of the familiar figure entering the room. His crimson and silver mixture on his plating was unmistakable. And above all of that

 _Oh damn_

It was easy to recall the moment now. Right before her sight darkened, Maria heaved on the machines hands.

 _It's going to tear me apart._

The intense quivering led the girl to hit the bottom and bring her knees closer to her body wrap her arms around them,hiding half of her face, behaviour which has been noticed by the alien. With each step he took closer to her confinement, the task of breathing became harder to execute, and her poor heart could turn on an engine at that beating rate.

"Ah,you're finally awake!"

A fruity voice reverberated, the mind trying to slowly analyze what exactly was the thing in front of her. The container was at the level of his face, each of them getting a perfect view of the other.

No response was given in return, each attempt to speak, squeal or cry froze somewhere on its way to the tongue.

A slight frown followed as a reaction. His face was so expressive despite him being a machine, she though in awe. The crimson ringed optics were curiously investigating her.

 _Breathe, Maria...just breathe…_

A gasp broke behind her knees, her lungs trying to keep up with the building panic.

 _Say something_

Another gasp for air pitched out of her mouth, trying to let the air flow and words slide out, a terrifying challenge she had to come out victorious from. If they caught her, there will be no way, whatever she will speak out, to let her go now, would they?

Her courage shyly creeped in.

"I..am. I am.." The painful swallow made room for more " sorry. Sorry for...puking on you."

"You're lucky that you're not an organic mush by now for that!" The tone rose threateningly before it dropped back to the initial one, gradually escalating into a proud one. "But there is nothing a bactericide bath and a buffer can't solve! So…" His frown faded away "You're forgiven."

The sudden relief escalated back to panic in the moment he got a grip on the top of the tube, moving it from her place down to the desk, with a switch, unscrewing it. Her eyes didn't know where to look first. The cap being removed of the movement of the mech.

"Let's get you out."

The words worked magic on her. Her stiffened body reacted, getting up and gluing her back on the glass, following the metallic hand trying to reach down for her. A scared squeak came from her while dodging his grip from a side to another. The little mouse got only a few chances before the confinement has been tilted, losing her balance and falling straight on his palm, wrapping around her body. A few lower degrees bit her skin. God, it was cold, and the missing cardigan could be one of her problems if not for the robot.

"I have nothing! Alright!? I have absolutely nothing to give you!" Suddenly, her voice burst loudly while trying to wiggle away from his grip.

"Yeah, I know. You already shouted it before I got you, remember?" His calm voice exhausted her. For him it was a game, wasn't it?

A disoriented frown whipped on her face.

"Let me make this clear, fleshy. You have nowhere to run here. Now, you will stay put…"

"Roll over? Play dead?" Her voice was barely put together. Maria crossed her trembling arms, trying to put up a sarcasm shield. At the moment it was the only thing that made her confident enough to not burst into tears.

"I wish. I hoped Soundwave had better tastes in organic matter…" The reply dryly came as she has been put down on one of the tables.

 _Soundwave?_

"What is that supposed to mean?" With that mumble, the woman desperately tried to rip the shock off herself, only if it was that easy. Even the blink of his optics startled her.

"What are you? Japanese? Military?"

"Japanese!?" A gasp resonated "Don't you dare compare _moi_ to these ugly Toyota Mitsuoka!"

"I didn't mean...to offend you?" Maria didn't know how to pick her words anymore to the machine. Her eyes followed his fluid mimics.

"I am a proud cybertronian! A sentient mechanical self-configuring modular robotic race, superior in comparison with your petty soulless machinery, also to you, fleshies." His tone rose again joined by a grin, his servo slowly reaching out for her. Not leaving her defensive state, she tried to dodge his digits that tried to get a pinch on her clothing. An attempt to push him away resulted in slipping on his palm, hitting her back on the metal. A groan came from her , rolling onto her belly and trying to get up. Not fast enough though, as the digits from the other servo crept underneath her tank and rapidly slid across her bare back, pulling the cloth piece off without much effort.

The sudden violation of her privacy brought unwanted thoughts, finally finding the balance to get on her feet and tale several steps back.

"I am checking you for dents and malfunctions before handing you away"

She didn't have to look to know he was amused either way, undressing her like some sort of doll. Only God knows when she will ever lay hands on another clothes if he takes them away or rips them more or less accidentally. Her arms wrapped around the gray sports bra.

"I will get them off myself." Her stiffened reply stopped him from reaching out to her again.

 _What are you even embarrassed for? He is an alien machine._

The thought gave her the necessary push to take off the rest.

Knockout simply leaned from a side to another , pinching her by the wrist without warning and pulling her arm up, examining her body . According to the information provided by Soundwave, the woman looked in a good state, although when his optics met with her back

"What an ugly dent."

"Eh?"

"I'll weld it in a moment"

"No! No, hell no!"

"Are you going to walk around with your protoform dented like that?"

"Proto...what are you...Look." She took a deep breath it, slightly frowning to him, uncomfortable from her arm being held up like a barbie girl. "Dent? That's a scar."

"A scar can't be that large."

"On us it can. You won't fix anything. There is nothing to fix."

"You are a spotted specimen" His awe angered her enough to try to pull herself away from him, her arm slipping from his grip.

"They are called freckles." Maria mumbled under her breath.

Another few thoughtful glances concluded with a few slow nods of his head. Her eyes widen in the second his cold digit slid on her back, up underneath her hair, pulling it just enough to take a look of her nape.

The woman didn't react, if he was to perform a check on her under certain orders, she supposed it was similar to a regular check at the doctor back home, excepting the face she had to undress and stay bare in that coldness. Of course, in the alien world, as the human one, the specimen's opinion didn't matter.

"Not the most developed specimen, are you?" The deep chuckle hit her like a tidal wave, a squint and a disgusted face aimed to the cybertronian, fed up with his comments enough to dare starting put back the clothes.

"Your specie is pathetic."

"You don't say." The woman muttered, setting her gaze on his optics, her hands pulling up the trousers.

"So, you're alien...aren't you going to see what makes me tick or you already tried it on another?" Fear touched her tongue with those words. Who knows what the order number was on her one way ticket.

" We are not some undeveloped race in order to give a frag about organic matter."

 _Then why am I here?_

Whatever they scheduled for her, must be even worse than dissection then.

 _I have to brace it, I will get a chance to escape, I am sure of it. That if they don't kill me first._

Despite the fact the woman was talking to an alien machinery, finally, her heart settled down. For now, he wasn't hostile, and chatting kept him occupied from any attempt of laying another digit on her.

"Visiting I see, then? Need a guide maybe, then? I can show you around Los Angeles. I know the best parts of the city that smell less worse than the rest." Maria continued, holding her hands together in front of her, trying to show herself as humble, not intending to challenge the large machinery.

He didn't had time to think of a reply, but an amused curiosity settled on his face, now, his optics averting towards the doors opening once again. The human already tensed up at the sight. A slightly taller slimmer figure entered the room, the plating being patterned with dark grey and deep purple. The lack of a face to memorize brought a chill to the woman.

Her ears were suddenly assaulted with another pattern of frequencies, which came from the mech holding her. His timbre went low, it clicked and gave guttural wheezes. The unknown language kept for a minute or two, and the silence of the other mech became unsettling. When the array of electronic sounds came to a stop, Knockout swiftly grabbed her, but instead of the container, she's been thrown in a black cased box of large size.

The moment she hit the bottom, the lid closed and left her blind. The darkness and silence hit her. There were no more wheezes and clicks, and her eyes were not catching any glimpse of light. The sudden lean of the floor forced her to lay on her belly and try to stay in place, as the box was moved around a few times then coming to a rhythmic thump, which took a while.

Suddenly, the final thump made the whole space shake, and even the dim light hurt her eyes for a few moments. The alien machinery was unwrapping the casing surrounding what she could now identify as a sort of terrarium, but instead of a pond, there was this slightly half opaque glass, probably 6 meters tall. She could notice a wall with an entrance to the other side of the empty terrarium, which was more opaque than the side she was sitting in. She couldn't put her finger on it exactly, but she could swear the floor was resembling and feeling like ebonite.

Her sight averted upwards, to her reflection. The alien was staring down. The blood froze in her veins, not being able to find a way to react properly. With the other mech she could try to strike a conversation, or question something, but this one was a whole new deal she couldn't play around with words just yet.

 _Soundwave, right?_

Maria got startled by the menacing tentacle slithering above the enclosure, leaning down and placing down a box twice her size in a corner before retreating. The engraved with lines and circles shifted a few blocks with a sudden sound, making the woman step back and acquire the defensive pose. Instead of turning into another cybertronian, several lines lit up, then the known voice was heard.

"Welcome to your new establishment. You will be spending the next useful time on the Nemesis. Purpose - You will provide relevant data and answers to the questions I will ask you daily. Your answers will be registered and checked upon the world wide web. Misleading information will not be tolerated." The man's voice came from the cube, and the sudden realization dropped heavily on her shoulders.

 _It could be anyone. Anyone useful could be plucked from the street and brought to this...place._

Her muscles relaxed however, while listening, her gaze slid towards the mech. He was the man. All this time, she talked to an alien!

"What kind of questions…?"

The answer came a minute later however.

"The questions are solely based on humans and their fundamental requirements for minimal and optimal functioning."

 _Just as he asked on the street._

"Why do you need a box to talk?"

The question didn't seem to win any reaction other than a late reply of the cubic machine.

"The device is converting cybertronian machine code and files into sounds resembling english phrases understood by your species. The timbre of the Nemesis's holoform has been downloaded in the cube to gain familiarity and relax the subject. Due to the slow signal of the primitive satellites, the cube's optimality reaches a maximum of 60.84%."

A slightly confused expression shot back at him, but the woman simply nodded, not pushing further.

"For relevant data, the subject acquires rewards that will make the enclosure a more habitable environment. Erorred data is punished by either taking away acquired rewards or other ways."

' _Other ways' doesn't sound good…_

"The rest of the tests that require physical activity will be done under Knockout's surveillance, such as periodical check-outs except my personal requests. Unless given permission, the subject won't leave its establishment. Unless given permission, the subject won't converse with any other cybertronian or human. The subject has the basic duty of informing me of injuries and health issues. Ignorance will not be tolerated. Disobedience will be punished. Escaping attempts will be **severely** punished."

Maria took a deep breath in, trying to memorize the so said rules, although, at a glance thrown around, she questioned more.

"I...am going to live here, in this box?"

"Affirmative."

"How much time? Will you let me go afterwards?"

The speed the answer came with froze her guts from her toes up even to the end of her hairs

"After the subject has fulfilled its purpose, it will be discarded."

She couldn't help her breath, she started to feel the desperation. It wasn't like she expected the aliens to release her so easily, but after not being killed and experimented on right from the start, built up that useless hope.

Could she accept the fact that she will be thrown to the garbage after being used, as easy as she accepted she was a woman of the streets back in Los Angeles?

The mech lowered himself, his black visor parallel to the glass panel as the cube behind the woman played again

"Approach the glass."

And with trembling steps and big watery eyes, the frail being reached the glass, shadowed by the black mirror. Maria couldn't tell his expression or feelings, his reactions and replies were plain and emotions were absent, but why did she feel like the mech had a certain satisfaction hiding behind that mask? Slowly building up, restrained.

"Look at me."

The mechanic voice was emphasised with a more authoritar tone he must have implemented.

Her gaze slid from the bottom of the visor to the middle of it, trying her best to not judge her mirrored expression: that weak, terrified look of hers. She slowly turned it into a forced glare.

The visor blinked white for half a second, then, her picture was displayed in the left corner of his visor, the rest of it being gradually filled in with rows of alien symbols. Her only guess was that he was making a profile, filling it in on the spot.

Her arms wrapped around herself, keeping that glare of hers, the squint of her eyes forcing the tears to slid down her face.

And the box played again.

"Specimen - 0, designation - Maria Osborn. Species - Homo Sapiens. Age - 24 _stellar-cycles_. The specimen presents height of 1.72 _mechanometers_ and a weight of 0.061 tonnes. "

A few guttural wheezes remained untranslated, bringing confusion, nonetheless, she didn't doubt the accuracy, given the fact that talking cube was with who knows how many years of technology ahead of theirs. A slow nod was given in response, and the visor shut down back into the blackness.

The black stillness lasted mere seconds and the visor lit up an 8-bit smiling figure.


End file.
